Yes, Federales (180 N. Morgan St., West Loop) is always this busy. The West Loop taco and tequila spot packs in a crowd every day of the week: after-work boozers, gaggles of friends downing margaritas, dates splitting piles of guacamole. This place, in this moment, is the epitome of a scene.

You can thank a variety of factors for this. First, the space itself is admittedly great, with a retractable roof that's open to the sky most nights and criss-crossed strings of globe lights plus tons of murals. It's in a prime location, within shouting distance of the CTA's Morgan stop and strollable from Google's West Loop HQ. And, well, who doesn't like tacos?

Below, see what we saw when we stopped in.

Read more: Hogsalt and Four Corners Team Up Again for Federales